It was currently the next day and Henry and I were watching the clock tower from our window. "I can't believe she actually stayed," Henry whispered. "I know, I'm actually really surprised," I said. "What?" Henry asked. I ignored him and said, "I think we should get ready now."

Henry didn't say anything else and we both started getting ready. I was braiding my hair while Henry was fixing his tie in the mirror when Mom walked in.

"The missing pages - where are they?" Mom asked. "It's an old book. Stuff's missing," I said. "Why do you care?" Henry asked. "I care because you two think I'm some evil queen. And that hurts me, Henry and Ava. I'm your mother," Mom said.

"No, you're not," Henry said. "Well then who is? That women who brought you here? I don't like what she and this book are doing to the both of you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue," Mom said.

Henry and I smiled as we started to leave the room. "What?" Mom asked. The clock rang and Mom turned to the window. We snuck out while she was distracted. "What happened to the missing pages?" I asked Henry as we walked out of the house.

"Everything after Mom threatened Snow and Charming, all of the pages I tore out and hid. She can't know what happened after she threatened Snow and Charming," Henry told me. "Do you have the pages on you?" I asked Henry. He smiled and said, "Why wouldn't I?" "Come on let's go to Granny's and read it," I smiled.

We walked to Granny's and took a booth in the corner. Henry took the pages out of his backpack and started reading to me.

"The Evil Queen stood in a forest with a group of some of the darkest souls. In front of the fire the Evil Queen started throwing in things that would help start the dark curse."

"The Evil Queen said, "Who among us is tired of losing? That's why I called you here. To put an end to our misery. Today, we claim victory and move to a new, better realm. A place where we can finally win." "And we'll be happy?" The Blind Witch asked."

"I guarantee it. But first, I need something from you. A lock of hair from those of the darkest souls. You must trust me. Because, if you don't there are other ways," the Evil Queen said. The branches around them all started to twist and turn until everyone was surrounded by them."

"Everyone quickly gave them a lock of hair. "A wise decision. All that remains is the final ingredient. The prized heart from my childhood steed. The glorious beast whose passing will fuel our victory. Let my wrath be unleashed," the Evil Queen said."

"The heart was removed from a box that Henry I was holding. The Evil Queen threw the heart into the fire. A large pillar of smoke appeared but then disappeared. A gnome started laughing. "Yeah, you really unleashed something, there," the gnome laughed. The Evil Queen then turned him to stone," Henry read.

He would have read more but Ruby appeared and said, "Hi Ava and Henry. What would you guys like today?" The door jingled and Emma walked in. She didn't notice us and went to go sit by the bar. "Three hot chocolates with cinnamon. Two for us. One for her," I said while pointing to Emma. Ruby looked at Emma and nodded.

Ruby came back minutes later with our drinks. We eagerly gulped them down. We watched as she gave Emma her drink and said something. Emma turned around and looked at Graham. I laughed lightly as she walked over to him and said something about how 'she's not here to flirt.'

Graham said, "I didn't send it." "We did. We like cinnamon too," Henry smiled as we got out of our booth. "Don't you both have school?" Emma asked. "Duh. We are ten," I answered. "Walk us," Henry said.

Emma smiled and started to walk us to school. "What's the deal with you two and your mom?" Emma asked. "It's not about us, it's about her curse," Henry said. "We have to break it. Luckily, we have a plan. Step one - identification," I smiled.

"We call it Operation Cobra," Henry told her. "Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy tales," Emma said. "Exactly," Henry smiled. "It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail," I explained.

"So, everyone here is a fairy tale character. They just don't know it," Emma confirmed. "That's the curse. Time's been frozen - until you got here," Henry told her. Emma stared at us and then started to take a bite of out of an apple I didn't notice she had.

"Hey! Where'd you get that?" I asked. "Your mom," Emma answered. Henry grabbed the apple and threw it behind us. "Don't eat that!" Henry exclaimed.

"Okay, uh... Alright. What about their pasts?" Emma asked still fazed from us throwing her apple and yelling at her. "They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything. And you'll see," I explained.

"So, for decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious," Emma asked.

"I knew you'd get it. That's why we need you. You're the only one who can stop the curse," Henry happily said. "Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Emma asked.

"Yes. And right now, we have the advantage. Our mom doesn't know that. Henry took out the end. The part with you in it. See? Your mom is Snow White," I explained as Henry held up a page with Charming and baby Emma on it. Emma took it in her hands and looked at it closely. "Kids..." Emma whispered.

"I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them. Read them," Henry offered as he handed Emma all the pages.

"But whatever you do, don't let her see these pages. They're dangerous. If she finds out who you are, then it would be bad," I warned her. We arrived at our school and we stopped at the front door.

"We have to go. But we'll find you later and we can get started. I knew you'd believe us," Henry smiled as we started to board the bus.

"I never said I did," Emma told us. "Why else would you be here?" I asked as Henry and I walked inside and ran to our classroom. Not that much later, Ms. Blanchard came in.

Ms. Blanchard is actually Snow White and she is Emma's mom. She is also our teacher and she is the best. "Today, we will be learning about water," Ms. Blanchard told us.

"So, we are going to go outside since water forms out there and nature depends on it," Ms. Blanchard said. "Yes," we all cheered. We walked outside and started learning about water.

"- water, synthesize," Ms. Blanchard said but we heard footsteps. Henry and I looked up and noticed it was Mom.

"Ahem. May I speak with my son and daughter?" Mom asked. No, no, no.

"We're in the middle of a lesson. Is it important?" Ms. Blanchard asked. "Do you think I'd be here if it wasn't?" Mom asked. Mom walked over to us and we got up. She pulled us aside.

"Henry, Ava, sweeties, I have some bad news. The woman who you brought here - she's been arrested. She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole his files. She's a con woman. She's trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. That's why she's sticking around. I'm sorry," Mom told us.

"No, you're not," I sneered. "I know you both think otherwise, but all I'm doing is trying to protect you two. This is going to be good for us. You'll see. Things will be better," Mom said. She waited for an answer but the bell rang.

"We have to get back to class," Henry said and then grabbed my hand as we walked back over to our lesson. "We have to go see Emma," I whispered as we walked over to Ms. Blanchard.

"You're right," Henry said. I walked up to Ms. Blanchard and said, "Ms. Blanchard, Emma, our real mom, has been arrested. We have to go see her and see if she is ok."

"Oh my goodness. I'll take you myself and help bail her out. Now that class has ended, I don't have anymore classes for the day and it's recess for you so let's go quickly before it ends," Ms. Blanchard told us.

We smiled and each grabbed her hands as we walked to the police station. When we arrived Henry and I ran inside. "Hey!" Henry yelled as we saw Emma.

"Henry! Ava! What are you two doing here?" Graham asked. "Their mother told them what happened," Ms. Blanchard explained. "Of course she did. Henry, Ava, I don't know what she said - " Emma started.

"You're a genius!" I interrupted. "What?" Emma asked. "We know what you're up to. You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra," Henry explained.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost," Graham said. "It's need to know, Sheriff," I snapped. "And all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's going to bail her out," Henry said.

"You are? Why?" Emma asked. "I, uh, trust you," Ms. Blanchard explained. "Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do," Emma stated.

Graham uncuffed Emma and Emma quickly ran out but not before stealing a quick glance in our direction. When she was gone, Ms. Blanchard turned to us, "Kids, it's time to go back to school."

"Ok, bye Sheriff Graham," Henry and I said. "Bye Ava and Henry, you two be safe," Graham smiled. With that we left and went back to school.

When school was finally over I sighed, "Henry, we have to go to mom's office. We are going out to dinner, again." "Ok, let's go," Henry said. He grabbed my hand and we walked to mom's office. When we got to the door I noticed Emma in there talking.

I stopped Henry and we stood by the doorway listening. "I'd like to start off by apologizing, Miss Swan," Mom said. "What?" Emma asked clearly not believing Mom.

"I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here," Mom sighed. "That's right, I do," Emma confirmed. "And that you are here to take my daughter and my son from me," Mom told her.

"Okay, let's be clear. I have no intention of taking them from anyone," Emma said. "Well, then what are you doing here?" Mom asked.

"I know I'm not a mother. I think that's pretty self-evident. But I did have them. And I can't help that they got in my head and I want to make sure they are ok. The more you try to push me out, the more I want to be here. Especially after seeing how troubled they are," Emma told her. I saw Henry's face drop.

"You think they are troubled?" Mom asked. "Well, they're in therapy. And I only got through a couple of pages of their shrink's notes before you had me arrested. But putting all that aside. They think everyone in this town is a fairy tale creature," Emma sighed. Henry now had tears in his eyes.

"And you don't?" Mom asked. "How can I? The poor kids can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse. It's crazy," Emma told her. Henry yelled, "You think we're crazy?" He ran out and Emma whispered, "Henry." She saw me and whispered, "A-"

"No! Just stop! I knew we shouldn't have trusted you! You never loved us! Now look what you did! I thought I could actually have my real mom for once but I was wrong! You may have given birth to me and Henry but you are not our mom! Now stay away from us! You've done enough!" I screamed with tears streaming down my face.

Emma's face dropped and I ran out. I saw Henry out front crying. I ran over to him and hugged him, tears still streaming down my own face. "Come on, we have to go. Before anyone finds us," I said. Henry nodded and we quickly left, tears still streaming out.

We went to our castle and sat in silence for a half an hour. "Ava, we are going to be late for our session, let's go," Henry said as he got up. I wiped away my tears and he did the same. I grabbed his hand and we walked to Archie's place.

That's how we ended up here, in Archie's place. Henry playing with Archie's umbrella while I had my head on his shoulder, not talking or doing anything. Just sitting while Archie tried to make us express what was wrong.

"Are you both sure you don't want to talk about it?" Archie asked. We didn't answer. Archie looked at the umbrella. "You know, that umbrella kind of is my good luck charm. Is that why you two think I'm Jiminy Cricket?" Archie asked.

"We don't think you're anyone," Henry whispered. The door opened and Emma came running in. "Miss Swan! Look, I can explain. The Mayor forced me to-" Archie started. "I know. Don't worry about it. I get it," Emma told him as she pushed past him and over to us.

"Ava, Henry, I'm sorry," Emma said. "We don't want to talk to you," I snapped. "Miss Swan, if she knew you were here-" Archie started.

"To hell with her," Emma snapped. She sat across from us and said, "Henry, Ava, there is one simple reason I stayed here. You, I wanted to get to know you." "You think we're crazy," Henry whispered.

"No, I think the curse is crazy. And it is. But, that doesn't mean that it isn't true. It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. So what do I know. Maybe it is true," Emma explained.

"But you told our mom," I pointed out. "What she needed to hear. What I do know, is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking we're nonbelievers. Cause that way, she's not on to us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about? Throwing her off the trail?" Emma asked us.

What a bunch of..

Crap.

Who would actually believe that? "Brilliant!" Henry exclaimed. Oh, yeah, my stupid brother who fell for Emma's tricks.

She doesn't believe us. She doesn't love us. She's lying. She's not my mom. To Henry she is. I have to do this for Henry. I pretended to believe her by plastering a fake smile on.

"I've read the pages and, Henry, Ava, you were both right. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure that she never sees them," Emma said. Then she threw the pages into the fireplace.

"Now, we have the advantage," Emma smiled. Henry got up and hugged her. I got up too and hugged her because Henry did. "I knew you were here to help us!" Henry exclaimed. "That's right, kids. I am. And nothing, not even a curse, is going to stop that," Emma told us.

And with that Henry took Emma's bait and forgave her. We walked out of the office all together and walked home.

I still don't forgive her. I just hope she doesn't hurt Henry again.

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This was from episode two of season one! The Thing You Love Most. Anyways hope you liked it! Thanks for the views!

❤️Luv you❤️
-K

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